Aristotle said, "Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all," and sometimes, we're so focused on test scores and competing with other countries, we forget that school is about so much more than a child's ability to deliver rote memorization.
That's why it's important to remember that education is about gifting our students with the knowledge they need to make their own choices, their own decisions. And we're doing a huge disservice to all our children by denying them equal access to it. "A More Perfect Union" suggests that only with the tools supplied by a diverse and dedicated education can we hope to teach future generations to think for themselves, to choose a future without violence and without hate.
Questions About Power of Education
- Why do you think we put such an emphasis on education in the United States?
- What was so significant about the judgment in Brown v. Board of Education? What was missing from that important case?
- How could we go about equalizing our education system?
- What about our education system will always be unequal, no matter your race or gender? How will that affect the ongoing fight for equality?
Chew on This
Education is the single most important way to effect change.
One of the main causes of the Civil War was the varying social traditions in the northern and southern states. In many ways, those differences still exist today, exemplified by the fact that the southern states sometimes refer to that conflict as the War of Northern Aggression. This basic rhetorical difference, and others like it, has a big influence on persistent racial inequalities.